I first started to collect data on Wed 13 Oct and will continue until 30 March 2011. Each month I will send this data to the Cornell Science Lab in NY, to support with their research into why pigeons exist in so many colours. I will also share the data with Alex Patterson, a young and very talented composer based in Nottingham, who will support with the composition and creation of a piece of music using the data by assigning each colour morph with a key (A – G). The composition will also take inspiration from the French composer and ornithologist Olivier Messiaen, who was inspired by bird song and Synesthesia, a neurological condition, in one common form of synesthesia, known as grapheme → color synesthesia, letters or numbers are perceived as inherently coloured.

Colour morph/Key:

Red= A

Checkered= B

Spread= C

Blue bar= D

Red bar= E

White = F

Pied= G

Courting pigeons= two keys will be played together (depending on the colour) or substituted for a sharp/flat key